Portable fruit harvester

ABSTRACT

The portable fruit harvesting device disclosed consists of clipper a mounted on the upper end of a pole at an angle with the pole axis so that the clipper is disposed in a generally horizontal plane when the pole axis is tilted to form about a 45* angle with the ground. The clippers have a fixed blade and a movable blade, pivotally connected, and the movable blade is actuated by pivotal movement of an L-shaped lever arm mounted on the pole near the clipper. The L-shaped lever is pivoted by pulling a cable which passes down the center of the pole to the lower end and where it is attached to a squeeze handle. The Lshaped lever arm is resiliently biased to place the movable blade in an open position with respect to the fixed blade, and a fruit catcher is positioned below the clipper to catch the fruit.

United States Patent 1 Kerner [111 3,744,227 1 1 July 10,1973

[ PORTABLE FRUIT HARVESTER [22] Filed: Sept. 24, 1971 [21] Appl. No.:183,604

[52] 11.8. C1. 56/335 [51] Int. Cl A0lg 19/08 [58] Field of Search56/332, 335, 336, 56/337, 338; 30/249, 250, 251

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,303,885 5/1919 Goussy.....56/335 1,522,841 1/1925 Siefken..... 56/335 1,844,158 2/1932 Hain 30/2512,246,747 6/1941 Metzger.... 56/335 91,698 6/1869 Adams 56/335 1,247,87811/1917 Raney 30/249 2,407,803 9/1946 Thomas 56/336 1,166,586 1/1916Garrison 56/336 906,412 12/1908 Griffin 56/336 1,308,677 7/1919 Kosich56/335 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 142,949 1 l/ 1931 Switzerland56/336 258,574 4/1913 Germany 56/338 Primary Examiner-Russell R. KinseyAttorney-Vergil L. Gerard [57] ABSTRACT The portablefruit harvestingdeyge disclosed consists of clipper a rnounted on the upper end of apole at an angle with h PQEQ E,i 1 1fb9Fl PPQ$1 P9$ in a generallyhorizontal plane when the pole axis is tilted to form about a 45 anglewith the ground. The clipper has a fixed blade and a movable b1ade,pivot ally connected, and the movable blade is actuated by p qt PQWEERKEEPjIEI-QEQ19X? mounted on the pole near the clipper. The L-shapedlever is pivoted by pulling a cable which passes down the center of thepole to the lower end and where it is attached to a squeeze handle. TheL-shaped lever arm is resiliently biased to place the movable blade inan open position with respect to the fixed b1ade, and a fruit catcher ispositioned below the clipper to catch the fruit.

5 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures United States Patent 1 [In 7 3,744,227Kerner v 1. July 10, 1973 PORTABLE FRUIT HARVESTER BACKGROUND OFINVENTION This invention relates generally to devices for harvestingfruit and more particularly to fruit harvesters which are hand operatedfrom ground level.

Numerous pole type fruit harvesters have been devised for picking fruiton the uppermost portions of fruit trees in an orchard by a pickerlocated on the ground. Such devices have not been generally acceptabledue to their usually complex structures including complicated powersystems for actuating the fruit stem clippers.

Accordingly, it is a major object of this invention to provide animproved portable fruit harvester .which is relatively lightweight andcan be easily and conveniently manipulated by the picker.

Another object is to provide a portable fruit harvester of the characterdescribed which is mechanically operated by a simple squeeze handle andblade actuating mechanism.

A further object is to provide a portable fruit harvester which has theclippers disposed at an angle to the pole axis so that the clipperblades approach the fruit stem in a substantially horizontal plane whenthe pole is tilted toward the tree at approximately a 45 angle with theground.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a portable fruitharvester which is able to accommodate a variety of sizes of fruit withsubstantially no modification.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become moreclearly apparent upon reference to the following description andaccompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 Ba side elevation of a portablefruit harvester embodying the principles of the present invention,showing the upper operating end thereof disposed-in a fruit engagingposition.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side elevation of the fruit harvester, showing theoperating parts in greater detail.

FIG. 3 is a further enlarged partial top plan view of the upperoperating end of the portable fruit harvester of the present inventionshowing the stem severing clippers and their actuating lever. 7

FIG. 4 is a partial vertical section taken on line 44 in FIG. 3 throughthe upper operating end of the portable fruit harvester.

FIG. 5 is somewhat enlarged horizontal section taken just below thefruit stem clippers and showing the fruit catcher.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the fruit stem clippers showing theblades and operating lever.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 12 is disposed at an angle 16 ofapproximately 135 with respect to the axis of the pole so that when theaxis of the pole is tilted to an angle of about 45 with the ground theclippers are generally horizontal. The angle 16 may be varied dependingon the height and diameter of the trees and the type of fruit to between120 and l50, however, an angle 16 of 135 is acceptable for most uses. Acatcher 18 formed of relatively rigid mate rials such as polyethyleneplastic is mounted on the pole 14 just below the clippers 12 by means ofa bracket 20. The catcher 18 is disposed directly between the clipperssothat it catches fruit cut by the clippers and has a spout 22 tofacilitate emptying the fruit when the end of the pole 14 containing theclippers is lowered to ground level.

As best shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, clipper 12 have a fixed blade 24 and amovable blade 26. Each of the blades has a cutting edge 27 on itsforward portion which move past one another in shearing action when themovable blade is actuated. The fixed blade 24 has a tail 28 on itsrearward portion which extends outwardly at substantial right angles tothe forward portion of the blade, and the movable blade 26 has a tail 30on its rearward portion which extends from the cutting edge 27 ingeneral alignment with the forward portion of the blade. The blades arepivotally interconnected intermediate their ends by a pivot pin 32 whichis secured to the fixed blade 24 and pivotally mounts the movable blade26 thereon. The pivot pin 32 is attached to a mounting plug 34 which isdisposed within the bore in the upper end 36 of the pole 14, to mountthe clipper 12 on the pole.

To actuate the movable blade 26 of the clippers 12, I provide anL-shaped actuating lever 38 which has an upstanding leg 40 and a baseleg 42. The actuating lever 38 is pivotally mounted at the junction ofits legs on the upper end 36 of the pole 14 by means of a lever pivotpin 44. The lever pivot pin 44 passes through a pivot pin bore 46 in theupper end 36 of the pole and the lower portion of the plug 34 and holdsthe plug 34 in the pole. The base leg 42 is longer than the upright leg40 to provide lever advantage in actuating the movable blade 26, as willbe further explained later. The upper end of the upstanding leg 40passes through an engagement hole 48 in the tail 30 of the movable blade26 so that pivotal movement of the lever 38 about the pivot pin 44pivots the upstanding leg 40 out of alignment with the pole 12 andpivots the forward portion of movable blade 26 about its pivot pin 32and across the forward portion of the fixed blade 24, thereby passingthe cutting edges 27 over one another in a scissors or shearingmovement.

A cable 50 is attached to the base leg 42 of the lever 38 by means of asecuring bolt 52, and extends into the bore in the pole 14 and down thebore to the lower end of the pole. Guides 54 are provided in the bore ofthe pole to center the cable and guide its reciprocal movement. Amanually operable squeeze handle 56 is attached to the lower end of thepole. The squeeze handle 56 has a pivotally movable lever handle 58 towhich the lower end of the cable 50 is attached so that squeezing thelever handle 58 toward the lower end of the pole l4 draws the cable 50downwardly and pivots the actuating lever 38.

The movable blade 26 is resiliently biased toward an open position, withits forward portion separated from the forward portion of the fixedblade 24 by a blade spring 60. In this open position the forwardportions of the blades are disposed to receive a fruit stem between thecutting edges 27. The blade spring 60 is connected under tension betweenthe forward portion of the movable blade 26 and the tail 28 of the fixedblade 24.

To further assure normal positioning of the movable blade in its openposition and to urge positioning of the lever handle 58 to itsunactuated position separated from the lower end of the pole 14, theactuating lever 38 is resiliently biased to its unactuated position,where the upstanding leg 42 is generally aligned with the axis of pole14, by actuating lever spring 62. The actuating lever spring 62 isconnected under tension between the outer end of base leg 42 and thetail 28 of the fixed arm 24.

In FlG 6 I show a modified form of the preferred embodiment of thepreferred embodiment of my invention, in which the upper end ofupstanding leg 40 is connected to the tail 30 of movable arm 26 by alink 64, instead of by insertion in hole 48.

On both forms of my preferred embodiment, the upstanding let 40 of theactuating lever 38 is bent outwardly from the pole 14 at its uppermostend, to permit an increased spacing between the pivot pin 32 and thepoint of engagement with the tail 30.

OPERATION The preferred embodiment of my invention operate as follows:The user supports the pole 14 by its lower end, as shown in FIG. 1, andtilts the pole toward fruit hanging on a tree in the manner illustrated.The clipper 12, with the movable blade 26 in its open position asdescribed above, are moved into position above the fruit so that thestem of the fruit is between the cutting edges 27 of the clipper blades.In the usual situation the pole will be at an angle of about 45 to theground, when the clipper is so positioned, and the clipper blades will,therefore be substantially horizontal since the angle 16 is 135.

The user then severs the stem of the fruit by squeezing the actuatinghandle 58 toward the pole 14. This draws the cable 50 downward which inturn-moves the base leg 42 downward against the resilient bias ofactuating lever spring 62, pivoting the actuating lever 38. As theactuating lever 38 pivots, its upstanding leg 40 moves from alignmentwith the pole 14 outwardly in the direction of base leg 42, driving thetail 30 of movable blade 26 in the same direction and moving the forwardportion of the movable blade pivotally about the pivot pin 32, againstthe resilient bias of blade spring 60. As the movable blade 26 is sopivoted its cutting edge 27 is carried across the cutting edge 27 on thefixed blade 24 in a scissors or shearing action which severs the stem ofthe fruit.

Since the catcher 18 is positioned below the clipper the fruit, afterits stem is severed, falls into the catcher.

When the handle 58 is released the blade spring 60 ad the actuatinglever spring 62 draw the movable blade 26, and the actuating lever 38,respectively, back to their original positions, and the harvester isready to use again.

When the catcher 18 is filled or thedesired amount of fruit has beengathered, the user withdraws the upper end of the pole 14 from the treeand lowers it with the catcher positioned over a box or other gatheringdevice. When the pole is sufficiently lowered the fruit in the catcherl8 pours out of the spout 22 into the box.

The catcher 18 can be a flexible sack as well as a relatively rigidcatcher, however, the catcher, as I have described it, protects thefruit from the tree branches and is especially easy to dump.

From this detailed description of the parts and opera- 7 tion of apreferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that it isfully capable of attaining the objects and providing the advantagesheretofore attributed to it.

The angular positioning of my clipper 12 with respect to the, axis ofthe pole 14 provides ease in aligning the clipper blades about the fruitstern, and my actuating mechanism assures a definite severing of thestem without excessive effort by the user. The actuating mechanismincluding the blade tails 28 and 30, the actuating lever 38, and theactuating handle 56, all combine to provide a powerful severing actionin the clipper without any untoward effort by the operator. In fact, myclippers are so effectively actuated that my harvester can be used forlight pruning as well as harvesting fruit.

The convenience of my portable fruit harvester is further illustrated bythe simplicity of its actuating mechanism which provides shearing actionwith only three moving parts, blade, lever and handle, and by the factthat when formed primarily of aluminum with a plastic catcher its totalweight is only about 2 pounds.

I claim:

1. A portable fruit harvester comprising:

a pole having a lower end and an upper end;

fruit stem severing means mounted on the upper end of said pole, saidfruit stern severing means having relatively movable blades including afixed blade attached to the upper end of said pole and having a forwardend with a cutting edge thereon and a tail end disposed substantially atright angles to said forward end, and a movable blade having a forwardend with a cutting edge thereon and a tail end disposed substantially inalignment with said cutting edge, said movable blade being pivotallysecured to said fixed blade at a point on said blades intermediate theirforward ends and tail ends;

blade actuating means pivotally mounted on the upper end of said poleadjacent said fruit stem severing means, and operatively associated withsaid blades, and 1 including a lever arm pivotally mounted intermediatethe ends thereof adjacent said fruit stern severing means, said leverarm having a first end operatively interconnected with the tail end ofsaid movable blade and a second end operatively interconnected with saidlinkage means, and so disposed that actuation of said linkage meanspivots said lever arm and moves said movable blade to pass the cuttingedge on the forward end thereof into shearing relationship with thecutting edge of said fixed blade; linkage means inter-' posed betweenthe upper end and the lower end of said pole and interconnected withsaid blade actuating means;

manual operating means disposed adjacent the lower end of said pole andinterconnected with said linkage means, said operating means beingoperable to drive said blade actuating means through said linkage means;and

fruit receiving means interconnected with said pole and disposed belowsaid fruit severing means to receive fruit falling by gravity afterseverance of the stem by said fruit stem severing means.

2. A portable fruit harvester as described in claim 1,

in which: 7

said blades of said fruit stem severing means are so disposed as to forman angle with the axis of the lower portion of said pole between 120 and150.

3. A portable fruit harvester comprising:

a pole having a lower end and an upper end;

a fixed blade attached to the upper end of said pole intermediate itsends with a forward end extending forwardly of said attachment andhaving a cutting edge thereon, and a tail end extending rearwardly ofsaid attachment;

a movable blade pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on the upper endof said pole in shearing relationship with said fixed blade, saidmovable blade having a forward end extending forwardly of said pivotalmounting and having a cutting edge thereon disposed to cooperate withthe cutting edge on said a severed fruit collector mounted on the upperend of said pole and disposed below said blades to catch fruit fallingby gravity after severence of the stem by shearing action of saidblades.

4. A portable fruit harvester as described in claim 3 10 in which:

fixed blade for shearing action upon said pivotal movement of saidmovable blade, and a tail end extending rearwardly of said pivotalmounting;

linkage means interposed between the upper end and the lower end of saidpole and operably interconnected with said tail end of said movableblade and actuatable to pivot said movable blade, and resilient meansinterposed between said linkage means and said tail end of said fixedblade and disposed to resiliently urge said linkage means to pivot saidmovable blade away from shearing relationship with said fixed blade;

manual operating means disposed adjacent the lower end of said pole andinterconnected with said linksaid tail end of said fixed blade extendssubstantially normal to said forward end;

said resilient means is a tension spring interconnected between saidtail endof said fixed blade and said linkage means; and

said blades are disposed for shearing action in a plane bearing anangular relationship with the axis of said pole of to 5. A portablefruit harvester as described in claim 3 in which:

said linkage means includes an L-shaped lever having

1. A portable fruit harvester comprising: a pole having a lower end andan upper end; fruit stem severing means mounted on the upper end of saidpole, said fruit stem severing means having relatively movable bladesincluding a fixed blade attached to the upper end of said pole andhaving a forward end with a cutting edge thereon and a tail end disposedsubstantially at right angles to said forward end, and a movable bladehaving a forward end with a cutting edge thereon and a tail end disposedsubstantially in alignment with said cutting edge, said movable bladebeing pivotally secured to said fixed blade at a point on said bladesintermediate their forward ends and tail ends; blade actuating meanspivotally mounted on the upper end of said pole adjacent said fruit stemsevering means, and operatively associated with said blades, andincluding a lever arm pivotally mounted intermediate the ends thereofadjacent said fruit stem severing means, said lever arm having a firstend operatively interconnected with the tail end of said movable bladeand a second end operatively interconnected with said linkage means, andso disposed that actuation of said linkage means pivots said lever armand moves said movable blade to pass the cutting edge on the forward endthereof into shearing relationship with the cutting edge of said fixedblade; linkage means interposed between the upper end and the lower endof said pole and interconnected with said blade actuating means; manualoperating means disposed adjacent the lower end of said pole andinterconnected with said linkage means, said operating means beingoperable to drive said blade actuating means through said linkage means;and fruit receiving means interconnected with said pole and disposedbelow said fruit severing means to receive fruit falling by gravityafter severance of the stem by said fruit stem severing means.
 2. Aportable fruit harvester as described in claim 1, in which: said bladesof said fruit stem severing means are so disposed as to form an anglewith the axis of the lower portion of said pole between 120* and 150*.3. A portable fruit harvester comprising: a pole having a lower end andan upper end; a fixed blade attached to the upper end of said poleintermediate its ends with a forward end extending forwardly of saidattachment and having a cutting edge thereon, and a tail end extendingrearwardly of said attachment; a movable blade pivotally mountedintermediate its ends on the upper end of said pole in shearingrelationship with said fixed blade, said movable blade having a forwardend extending forwardly of said pivotal mounting and having a cuttingedge thereon disposed to cooperate with the cutting edge on said fixedblade for shearing action upon said pivotal movement of said movableblade, and a tail end extending rearwardly of said pivotal mounting;linkage means interposed between the upper end and the lower end of saidpole and operably interconnected with said tail end of said movableblade and actuatable to pivot said movable blade, and resilient meansinterposed between said linkage means and said tail end of said fixedblade and disposed to resiliently urge said linkage means to pivot saidmovable blade away from shearing relationship with said fixed blade;manual operating means disposed adjacent the lower end of said pole andintercoNnected with said linkage means, said operating means beingoperable to drive said linkage means to pivot said movable blade intoshearing relationship with said fixed blade; and a severed fruitcollector mounted on the upper end of said pole and disposed below saidblades to catch fruit falling by gravity after severence of the stem byshearing action of said blades.
 4. A portable fruit harvester asdescribed in claim 3 in which: said tail end of said fixed blade extendssubstantially normal to said forward end; said resilient means is atension spring interconnected between said tail end of said fixed bladeand said linkage means; and said blades are disposed for shearing actionin a plane bearing an angular relationship with the axis of said pole of120* to 150*.
 5. A portable fruit harvester as described in claim 3 inwhich: said linkage means includes an L-shaped lever having anupstanding leg and a base leg, said lever being pivotally mounted on theupper end of said pole adjacent said blades with said upstanding legdrivingly interconnected with the tail end of said movable blades.